Wanna publish a book but don't know where to start?

Writer's Digest has put together a really easy to follow breakdown of how to go from great idea to publication. Well...how to try anyway. Because there comes a point when all you can do is sit back and fervently hope, wish, and pray for good news. (Guess which phase I'm in?) Anyhow, check out the article below for an awesomely simple breakdown.

There Are No Rules - I Want to Publish My Book. Now What?

Feeling Optimistic

I've been working on a new project for the last few hours and am feeling pretty good about it. Plot holes are starting to come together in my head. My characters tend to be like real people, in that it takes time to get to know them, and they won't reveal everything in the beginning no matter how much I try to rush the relationship. I was writing for two months before I figured out how Jasmine got her superpowers. I had the entire plot mapped out but there was just this small issue of how she happened to be super. Which is clearly, not a small issue at all. And the idea didn't come while I was writing either, I was actually crossing the street by the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro Stop in DC and I tripped. And a light bulb went off. Random right? 

I'm learning to accept that sometimes I can't force the ideas, and they will come when they're good and ready. In the meantime I just keep writing, writing, writing - and depending on the gaps to fill themselves in as I get there. 

Since the last YouTube video I posted was incredibly melodramatic (What can I say? I'm an artiste. And all that pent up emotion makes for good material), I'm going to post something a bit more inspirational today. Another song I've mentally remixed to be about my writing experience, and the song I plan to sing all day when I sign w/ the right agent. From Legally Blonde, the Musical. (Love that movie!)

(video not mine, embedded from YouTube)

Where it all begins...

So I've been trying to figure out exactly what's going to become of this blog. It started out as a resting place for my sample chapters, but then I started to kind of have fun toying around with it. I think it is gradually becoming an online diary of sorts, describing my journey from desperate, starving artist to (hopefully someday) successful, published YA author extraordinaire. So I guess I'll give the background and then share how things progress from this point.

 My journey so far has consisted of:
-a year of writing (I started Jasmine Powers, Super Geek in July '09),
-a LOT of revisions (I've been trading chapters with 3 online critique partners and reading at a weekly in-person critique group),
-and a fair share of queries sent out. I'll just say that if I hit 100 query rejections with no agent, that's when I give up the ghost and trunk this book. And I've still got a long way to go, so I'm feeling pretty good. Got a lot of rejections on my first round query because frankly, it was horrible and I just didn't know enough to realize that then. Took a long pause for the cause and did a new round with my current, much transformed, many times revised version.

With my current query, I've gotten a good number of requests and one particularly helpful rejection on a partial, which led to some revisions which I think really improved the story. I've also had a few form rejections (not right for my list/ just didn't fall in love with the story/voice/concept/ME. Ok, no one said they didn't fall in love with me, but really that's what it felt like) and those were tough. I am usually pretty rational and constantly remind myself that I read and enjoy a lot of well-written books which I don't fall in love with, and I know that it's in my best interest to be patient and find that perfect agent who loves my story the way I do....BUT....I still have moments where I feel like this:


(video not mine, embedded from YouTube)


I've been remaking the song in my head to be about writing my experience. Once I get an agent, I promise I will make a remake of the video w/ my aspiring author version of the song and post it here. One more fun thing to look forward to!

My query letter

So since I mentioned my query letter in 'So what's going on with the book' explanation, I figured I might as well post it here. Don't know if anyone will find this interesting, but this is the letter I've been sending to agents to try and get them interested enough to want to read my book. (This is probably about the 15th version, I've done a ton of drafting and rewriting this thing). I'm pretty happy with this one and have been pleased with the results so far. So without further ado, my query letter:

So what's going on with the book?

Good question. I'm still in literary limbo trying to land my book with the right agent who will love it the way I do. So far I've had more rejections than I can count on my hands, but I've also gotten some helpful feedback and have ten current requests that are being reviewed by agents as we speak. (Ok, I'm writing this at 2:43 AM so the chance that they are actually reading my book right now is slim. But I'm sure it's on their to-do lists!) The average response time for a submission (I send query letter, if agent is intrigued they respond with a request to read it, I send them the book and that's a submission) is 6-8 weeks, sometimes faster, sometimes slower. It depends on the agent's schedule, what kind of work they're balancing for current clients, whether they dedicate nights and weekends to reading submissions, etc. A good agent is dedicated to their current clients so reading submissions from potential clients seems to be something they kind of fit into their schedules when they find the time. Let's hope they find some time for me real soon!

What happens next?

Well, agents will respond in 1 of 3 ways:

Rejection - Bad. Boooo!

Request for revision - Better. Means they see potential and may offer representation if they fully connect with my story after I make some suggested changes

Offer of Representation - BEST! They offer to represent me and sell my book.

So now I'm wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin' that I'll have good news to report soon. Will keep you posted!